Continental, Alitalia commence codeshare

7 April 2006

SkyTeam alliance members Continental Airlines and Alitalia announced they are beginning codesharing to provide better service to passengers who travel between Italy and the U.S.Continental and Alitalia are two of the nine carriers who make up the SkyTeam alliance, which also includes Aeromexico, Air France, Czech Airlines, Delta, KLM, Korean Air and Northwest.

Effective immediately, Continental will place its code on the following Alitalia flights: between Rome/Milan and Bari, Brindisi, Catania, Florence, Lamezia Terme, Naples, Palermo, Pisa, Trieste and Venice, Italy; between Rome and Bologna, Genoa, Reggio di Calabria, Turin and Verona, Italy; and between Rome/Milan and Tirana, Albania. These flights will connect with Continental’s daily non-stop services between New York/Newark and both Rome and Milan.

At the same time, Alitalia will place its code on Continental flights between New York/Newark and 11 U.S. destinations—Cleveland, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland (Oregon), San Francisco and Seattle—plus Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. These flights will connect with Alitalia’s daily non-stop services between both Rome and Milan and New York/Newark.

Codesharing improves airline service by simplifying the booking process with electronic ticketing and communication of itinerary information between airlines. Customers traveling on connecting CO/AZ itineraries are able to have single check-in for all flights, including the issuance of boarding passes and checked baggage to their final destination. Additional codesharing routes are expected to be announced in the upcoming months.

Continental and Alitalia already have airport lounge and frequent flyer reciprocity under the SkyTeam alliance. Members of the two airlines’ frequent flyer programs, Continental’s OnePass and Alitalia’s MilleMiglia, can earn and redeem miles on all flights operated by the other carrier. Indeed, travelers on any SkyTeam airline earn mileage in their frequent flyer account regardless of which member airline they fly.——-